Lamp socket



April 11, 1961 D. P. CLAYTON LAMP SOCKET Filed Feb. 2, 1959 INVENTOR 1. 622 022 Arme/v United States Patent LAMP SOCKET David P. Clayton, Anderson, Ind., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Micln, a corporation of Delaware 7 Filed Feb. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 790,577

1 Claim. (Cl. 339-101) This invention relates to a lamp socket and, in particular, to such a socket of relatively inexpensive design while having improved sealing characteristics thereby contributing to more efficient operation of the socket and increased longevity thereof.

Lamp sockets of the type to which reference is made herein have typically included a substantially tubular or cylindrical socket barrel suitably secured to a supporting panel or bracket, a socket contact carried by a suitable conductor and disposed within the base of the socket for cooperating engagement with the contact base of an electric light bulb, and a flexible insulating sleeve pref erably made of rubber, plastic or the like, embracing the conductor and the base of the socket barrel exteriorly of the latter in abutment with the supporting panel or bracket. While the use of such a sealing sleeve has been quite satisfactory, it has not been completely effective in preventing the ingress of moisture, dust, dirt and other foreign particles into the socket assembly which results in general deterioration of the socket assembly and, particularly, corrosion which adversely affects the desired electrical properties of the assembly.

It is, therefore, a principal object and feature of this invention to provide a lamp socket of relatively inexpensive design which includes an improved seal therefor.

It is yet another object and feature of this invention to provide a lamp socket having a few number of parts which are relatively simple in construction and mutually cooperable to provide an improved socket seal to prevent the ingress of moisture and foreign particles to the socket thereby increasing the longevity and enhancing the pro.- longed electrical efliciency of the latter.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent hereinafter as the description of the invention proceeds, reference being made therein to the drawings in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary view, partly in section and partly broken away, of a lamp assembly embodying the socket of this invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the lamp socket of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings, the lamp assembly 2 includes the usual lamp body or support panel 4to which the lens 6 is adapted to be secured against the seal 8 by a suitable number of fasteners 10 thereby forming a sealed envelope enclosing the lamp socket 12 and the source of light, such as a conventional light bulb 14, disposed in such a socket. It will be understood that the aforementioned lamp assembly is adapted to be rigidly secured by suitable fasteners 16 to some particular mounting fixture 18, such as the roof bows of a vehicle passenger compartment if the lamp assembly is to be used as a dome light, or to a body panel of a vehicle or bracket supported thereon if the lamp is to be used for vehicle lighting purposes, and the like.

The socket assembly 12, which is shown more particu- 2,979,687 Patented Apr. 11, 1961 larly in Figure 2, includes a socket body, shell or barrel comprising a substantially continuous tubular or cylindrical side wall 20 formed integral with a radially inwardly extending annular shoulder 22 at the base thereof. The base wall or shoulder 22 is integrally joined to an axially extending neck portion 24 terminating in a radial shoulder 26 which is adapted to be crimped or otherwise secured to the lamp body 4 or other suitable mounting bracket or panel. An annular washer 28 is disposed between the mounting panel 4'and the rearward exterior face of the shoulder 22. The usual open end of the socket barrel is adapted to removably receive the contact base 30 of a suitable light'source, such as the light bulb 14, for cooperating electrical and mechanical engagement with an electrical contact associated with the socket and to be described. As is indicated in the drawings, the contact base 30 may be provided with the usual laterally projecting pins 32 cooperating with oppositely disposed J-slots to retain the light bulb in position within the socket.

An insulating boot or sleeve 34, preferably made of rubber, plastic or other flexible impervious material, extends through the opening in the base of the socket barrel defined by the neck portion 24 thereof, and includes an open end surrounded by an annular radial flange 36 adapted to seat against the shoulder 22 of the socket barrel. The face of the sleeve flange 36 radially inwardly of the outer periphery thereof is recessed as at 38. Snugly receivable within and contiguous with the side wall of the flexible insulating sleeve 34 is a rigid metal eyelet or sleeve 40 having an open end surrounded by a radial flange 42 seated within the aforementioned recess 38. A current conductor 44, suitably sheathed with insulating material 46, extends through the neck end 48 of the flexible insulating sleeve 34, through the apertured base ball 50 of the metal eyelet 40, and is provided at its socket end with a suitable metallic contact, herein shown to be in the form of a rivet type contact 52. The base wall 50 of the eyelet and an annular shoulder 54 on the contact 52 define oppositely disposed spring seats adapted to be engaged by a spring 56 axially coiled about the current conductor within the metal eyelet 40. The neck end 48 of the flexible insulating sleeve 34 may be sealingly engaged about the insulating material 46 surrounding the conductor in any well known manner.

The relative dimensions of the socket barrel and par-.

socket as shown in the drawing. Such a construction,

together with the sealed neck end 48 of the insulating sleeve about the conductor insulation 46, results in an improved seal for the socket assembly which prevents the ingress of moisture, dust, dirt and other foreign bodies to the socket assembly thereby decreasing corrosion and loss of desired electrical properties and generally enhancing and furthering the longevity of the socket.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the spring 56 normally disposes the contact 52 in position so as to engage the contact base 30 of the bulb when the latter is inserted within the socket. With the lamp bulb inserted within the socket, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, the contact base 30 of the bulb electrically and mechanically engages the contact 52 and reciprocates the latter axially to the required extent against spring pressure to insure complete electrical engagement between the cooperating contacts.

Inasmuch as the above exposition pertains merely to be preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the latter is not to be limited thereby but only by the claim which follows.

wall open at one end and integrally joined at the other end thereof to a base wall including a cylindricaliariially extending neck forming an opening in said base wall, thejuncture of said side and base walls defining an interiorannular radial shoulder surrounding the opening in said base Wall, a flexible thin-walled insulating sleeve extending through said neck and opening in said base wall. into the interior of said socket body, an annular radial flange defining an opening in said insulating sleeve within said socket body and seated against said shoulder, an annular recess in the face of said flange, a rigid metal sleeve including a substantially cylindrical side wall disposed snugly within said insulating sleeve substantially contiguously with the latter and radially aligned with said neck to confine said flexible sleeve between said neck and said side wall of said rigid sleeve, said rigid sleeve having an open end communicating with said socket body surrounded by an annular radial flange seated in said recess, an apertured base wall on said rigid sleeve opposite the open end thereof and axially beyond said neck, said base wall of said rigid sleeve forming with said side wall thereof a spring seat, a conductor extending into and through said insulating sleeve and through said rigid sleeve base wall into the interior of said rigid sleeve radially spaced from the side wall of the latter, a contact secured to said conductor within said rigid sleeve References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

